UncleTJ's page

Good point....though B&P-esque events / actions sometimes have a funny way of spilling over into later, more focused sessions ["Does anyone in the party remember the tune / lyrics to the song they sang to set the magical lock on their treasure vault last ime in/out? Maybe too much celebrating after the last great haul?".... starts an interesting discussion on memory retention skills]

Anyway, something else I've seen, but not used, was a bard having to sing & play an old dwarven hero's ballad to soothe an enchanted, animated large warhammer guarding a tunnel (an 'easy' way out). Had heard it twice over the past 4 adventures, and actually remembered 90% of the words + 3/4 of the tune.... got away with it on a 19 roll, with two dwarven party members chiming in for a piece of the chorus! Good thing too... the party was looking a bit ragged by that point ('serious' but still a bit of fun & definitely memorable!)

Interesting, but only in limited doses.... might be good for late nights when the "elven juice" or "Shire-puff" is flowing freely, maybe as an area encounter..... wander into the "forest of song" or "tower of tunes".... characters can't help but sing to communicate, or lose a hit point / charisma point unless save vs "lyrical magic" ;))

Must be a spell / enchantment that can be adapted. Some stylistic limits could be imposed as pitfalls or penalties..... Rap songs generate a couple of arrow hits from "drive by drow", a Britney tune triggers the falling of multiple 'skank sticks' from overhanging trees, etc. Of course good classic rock songs (ala Led Z.) bring the blessings of dieties.... even if out of tune.... who can tell anyway!

My son heats it in the microwave (real stuff, not Diet).... says it has medicinal value for cold or sore tooth or soemthing (maybe hangover?). I've never tried it, even at room temp.

I liked Palace of T.K. too; nice & creepy to keep players on their toes (+ 'target' got real paranoid after a bit, everyone else thought he was just goofing until too late). I also play mostly with relative rookies & like low level adventures... L1-L7 with lots of atmosphere (like the 'circus freak' one a few issues back). These can be pretty memorable and flow quickly (since I rarely get into 12 hr marathons anymore, or 3 - 6 days in a row @ 5 hrs ea..... aaaah the good 'ol days). The high level adventures are interesting to read and I do like to 'borrow' a few ideas / villains / encounters from them, scale 'em back & insert as 'adventure sidebars'; handy to have in stock for when party wanders way outside of my 'planned' adventure path... or for a "just a bad dream" solo session.

Sorry for adding to a closed post (not overly long... I could read freak-mutant-weirdo options for weeks...) but I do think that many adventures get wrapped up with over-done char.s and something is lost. Esp. not a good idea if your introducing new folks to D&D (I've been DMing since '78 so have seen a few score). Simple is sometimes good..... easier to focus on real core role playing, problem solving, hacking&slashing, etc. without getting too distracted on technicalities.... then bring in 'quirks' gradually at opportune times (lycnathropy, curses, prestige blessing, resurgent DNA strands, etc). "Rare" enemies / creatures should be fairly rare or they lose novelty..... nothing like skewering 'normal' orcs & goblins for a few sessions then having a lone straggler polymorph into something reallllly nasty on the first hit..... really buggers up the party's well laid out "tame the countryside" master plan!!